Captain battled with crazed man in cockpit

A hero captain has told how he struggled with a mad man who came within seconds of causing a packed British Airways' jumbo jet to crash.

Captain William Hagan, 53, was bitten on the ear and finger as he fought with a man who had seized the plane's controls.

As the struggle continued, passengers on the Gatwick to Nairobi flight screamed in terror as the Boeing 747 spiralled 10,000ft.

Capt Hagan and one of his co-pilots Richard Webb, 35, managed to get the intruder - a Kenyan national - out of the cockpit.

Then with the aid of business class passengers, the crew managed to overpower the intruder and regain control of the aircraft, which was carrying 379 passengers.

One passenger said Capt Hagan whose wife was also on board, later told passengers that if the drama had lasted four or five seconds longer, the co-pilot would not have been able to regain control because the jet was about to flip on to its back.

Four passengers were hurt as the plane went into nosedives and one stewardess suffered a broken ankle.

With police and emergency services standing by, the plane landed safely in Nairobi and the intruder was arrested.

Among those on board were Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the widow of businessman Sir James, and her daughter Jemima Khan, the wife of former cricketer Imran Khan. Mrs Khan was travelling with her two children, Kasim, aged 18 months, and Sulaiman, four.

Speaking from Nairobi today, Capt Hagan said: "It all happened very quickly. My first thought was for the safety of the aircraft and the passengers. We just did what we are trained to do.

"In the struggle the intruder bit my ear but my First Officer Richard Webb and I managed to get him out of the cockpit while my other First Officer Phil Watson flew the aircraft. With the help of some passengers we managed to restrain the intruder."